Ancient mythology can be puzzling.
There’s thousands of myths that ancient cultures hung onto and it can become a little nauseating interpreting the difference between deities like Poseidon and Pontus.
Now, combining mythology along with the complex software of video games and you may have yourself a deity more dreadful than Hades — the Greek god of the underworld.
Apotheon, however, is not a deplorable deity. In fact, it belongs right up there with the rest of acton-platforming pantheon of video games.
Story
Apotheon follows the revenge-driven tale of Nikandreos — a mortal on a conquest for divine blood.
Similar to Sony Santa Monica's franchise God of War, Apotheon’s story walks a beaten, typical path.
Zeus, the king of Olympus and Greek pantheon, has neglected humanity and those who rely on the God’s favors and Nikandreos, along with Zeus’ wife, Hera, team up to eliminate one god and goddess at a time.
Even though similarities will be drawn from both titles, Apotheon strives more as a light, frivolous role-playing game. Developer Alien Trap does a superb job of keeping Apotheon’s story relatively straightforward and each portion of the game refreshing and new.
For an example, in Artemis’s temple, players will sprint through coniferous forests flushed with nymphs and swamps.
During Poseidon's portion, however, players will travel the temple via trireme and search for numerous of Poseidon’s artifacts underwater.
Each temple helps upgrade Nikandreos’s skill set including the protagonist’s health and armor totals.
Players will spend close to 10 hours ravaging agoras, temples and battling with the likes of Ares, Athena and Apollo, but tediously searching the open world can take a few more.
Right when I felt like I was losing interest in Apotheon, its creative level design pulled me right back in.
Gameplay
Players will immediately notice the beautiful, pottery-like graphics Apotheon runs at 1080p.
The 2-D art style ultimately draws players in, including myself, as the Greek Temples are all well crafted and excellently spaced. High points are definitely Athena and Artemis’s temples.
Along with the gorgeous graphics, Apotheon’s combat system works relatively well. It may take a few hours to get a full grip on how Alien Trap wants you to play, but Apotheon’s two-stick combat system feels correct. The left analog stick will control Nikandreos while the right stick can be directed for blocks, attacks or aiming. Your directional pad will help select from four different weapons menus on the fly and the shoulder buttons are used to swing your weapon and blocking.
There is a bit of strategy in terms of what items to use in battle too. Since each weapon has certain durability, saving certain weapons for boss battle and others for normal enemies can be the difference between life and death.
There is also upgrading and potion systems intact to add depth. Players can loot a variety of agoras to gather gold and alchemy items in order to build magical potions and improvements.
Different types of boss battle also keeps things fresh and entertaining. Even though temples typically require players to go from A-to-B with no real continuity, boss battles like Ares and Apollo keeps things from getting too repetitive.
Final Verdict
Apotheon deserves every RPG-action-platforming fan’s recognition. It may not be the Zeus of gaming pantheon, but it’s one of the best deities.
Score: 3.5/5
